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So I want you all to take a moment with me and think a little bit different about the way we've all been approaching attaching the armor to the vest. I know there's been about a half a dozen ways to do this, but I've always thought that there has to be another way that might be a little easier and less time consuming...so of course I thought - MAGNETS
I know, I know you're probably thinking "How in the heck can you make that work?" Well, let me now show you
I went online and found some really strong (probably even too strong) magnets that will fit right inside the armor.
(Here are the two websites I use mainly, but I'm sure there are a lot others - http://apexmagnets.com/ and http://www.magnet4less.com/)
These are 12-16 pounders if I remember correctly, but after doing this I can honestly say that you'll easily get away with using 5-7 pounders if you decide to go this route...
After that, I attached 5 to each chest plate and 6 to the ab....with the corresponding pieces, that comes to a total of 22 magnets!
I used some trusty Devcon plastic welder and they're not comin' off! (or your adhesive of choice)
Sanded down the areas first of course

After that was done, all I had to do was line it up on the vest and throw the magnets on the back of it. The best part is that if it's not lined up, you can just move them around a little to exactly where you need them and you're not having to mangle the vest or sew anything or punch holes or anything! (vest courtesy of LSFU). Also, if you want to wash your vest, you just need to take them off. Now there is one catch though, I won't be able to do the collar this way because of the way it likes to pull back towards your throat and the magnets won't prevent that, they'll just slide (note - I haven't actually tried that with magnets, just assuming here)...that piece will have to be done with either snaps or, in this case, I'll be doing mine with bolts. Pics below
I did run into some issues with the magnets that I didn't think through enough (which is why I'm showing you here so you don't have the same problem) but I got that part figured out. They were actually SO strong that they were pulling the armor over itself. I thought I was really screwed until I came up with a rather simple solution...just cut out some pieces of thin metal to stabilize the magnets between the plates and keep them from grabbing onto each other.
Here's what I did for the collar seeing as how magnets would likely just slide and not keep the collar from pulling back choking me
Now for the pros and cons of doing it this way -
The bad news, these were EXPENSIVE, running me right around just under $100 with shipping (Note - you can probably save quite a few bucks by going with a lower pull strength as magnets seemed to be priced depending on that. I went overkill on these pull strengths (10lbs). 5-7lbs [and 2-4 for the diamond] in smaller sizes should be more than enough to hold the armor on the vest)
The good news, you will only ever do this one time and they won't EVER wear out and you won't have to do anything to the vest itself, keeping it in better shape for a longer period of time. Plus it took me only about 20 minutes to do this.

Also tried out this magnet method and it works out pretty well. Pretty quick and easy and no risk damaging your vest . Nice to be able to adjust your armor appropriately too. How did the magnets workout for you on your shoulder bells? Did they stay in place or kind of slide around?

Also tried out this magnet method and it works out pretty well. Pretty quick and easy and no risk damaging your vest . Nice to be able to adjust your armor appropriately too. How did the magnets workout for you on your shoulder bells? Did they stay in place or kind of slide around?

I actually never got around to doing magnets on my bells, those are still velcro'd on...never really have any trouble with those so I never bothered. I may do that eventually down the road though, not a bad idea

I've had mine like this since day one in September of 2010. I used hot glue to hold the magnets in place on the inside of the vest so I always had the right alignment. After 104 Fett troops I have only had the magnets fall off a couple of times, mostly cause the vest caught itself. The only other issue is since I sweat a lot and I have got caught in rain before I have some rust stains on the outside of the vest. Hey, weathering, right?

I went to Joann Fabrics and found these nice magnets that were 4 for $4. They were like nickel shaped neodymium ones too. I used 26 magnets on the vest and 28 on the plates. On the bottom of my shoulder bells, I added a single one and have my wife stick a loose magnet under my outer second sleeve on the flightsuit. It keeps my shoulder bells from flaring out.
I used velcro on my vest and collar to hold that in place...but I have a strange setup where my back and collar are attached permanently and my harness is permanently on my backplate. Somehow it works and I don't choke to death. It's nice cause I can get myself dressed.

but I have a strange setup where my back and collar are attached permanently and my harness is permanently on my backplate. Somehow it works and I don't choke to death. It's nice cause I can get myself dressed.

This sounds interesting. I always like hearing of different people's approaches to costume comfort. Any pics of this setup?

Thanks so much. This is brilliant. I was concerned about making holes in my vest and getting everything lined up using bolts. This seems way easier and I like how I'll be able to adjust as needed. I'll be using this method when my armour arrives.

I did a build for someone using 1/2" square X 1/8" thick N52 magnets and it worked out excellent! They are smaller but with a stronger pull and held up great. Magnets cost me about $45-$50 with shipping. Once i fit into my new BN vest, (still losing weight!) im going to switch from the bolts to the magnets.(except for the collar and shoulders) so i dont have to make holes in my BN vest

I used 3/4 x 1/16 Inch round Neodymium Rare Earth Disc Magnets from Amazon. They are N48 and have a 5.3 pull force and work really well for my Bobamaker V3 armour. They were about $6 for a pack of 10, so they're quite affordable too. I bought 1/2 inch magnets for the chest diamond, but probably could have just used the 3/4 inch. Has anyone had much luck attaching the shoulder armour by magnets? I taped them in to test them and they held well enough, but they seem like the most likely piece to bump up against something (or someone) and get knocked off.

It should work just the same as the other armor pieces, maybe go with something a little stronger (pull-wise) if you're worried about them coming off? I've only ever used velcro on mine and have never had them come off even once, but that's me